Greg Hudson is reporting in The Daily Mail a car dealership in business for more than 80 years in the Delaware County town of Grand Gorge is at risk of losing its Ford franchise. W.S. Hinkley & Sons, Inc., was established in 1930 by Henry Ford himself, but the Ford Motor Company now claims the dealership is underperforming and it has taken steps to sever its ties with the business. Hinkley & Sons owner Ed Hinkley has initiated legal action against Ford to prevent the dealership from being disenfranchised. "Terminating a long-standing, loyal franchise that has promoted the Ford brand for nearly a century not only eliminates local jobs in sales and service, but forces rural customers to drive to more urban areas to do business," Hinkley said in a statement. Hinkley was informed in 2013 that the business had failed to meet Ford's corporate sales and performance standards. In November 2015, declared its intent to disenfranchise the dealership. "The bigger story here is the systematic elimination of small town jobs in our country by American corporations with little regard to loyalty, history, or personal responsibility," Hinkley said. "...Henry Ford knew the importance of maintaining long standing relationships with its customers and its dealers that are not based solely on profit alone." Read the full story in The Daily Mail.

The Daily Freeman is reporting the Obama administration Thu., Nov. 3, commended Ulster County for its effort to electrify the county’s vehicle fleet. Ulster was the only New York county to be recognized by the administration as part of an announcement of new federal actions designed to “accelerate the deployment of electrical vehicles and charging infrastructure.” The initiative includes the designation of 48 electric vehicle charging corridors on federal highways. Ulster County was recognized for its commitment to reduce GHG emissions from county government operations by 25 percent by 2025. County Executive Michael Hein said he “couldn’t be more proud” that the county was recognized by the White House. Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.

Matthew Hamilton is reporting in Capitol Confidential a Manhattan federal judge has ruled that a state law barring voters from showing their completed ballots can stand. In his 16-page opinion, Judge P. Kevin Castel wrote any last-minute change in protocol could wreak havoc at polling sites next week. “A last-minute, judicially imposed change in the protocol at 5,300 polling places would be a recipe for delays and a disorderly election, as well-intentioned voters either took the perfectly posed selfie or struggled with their rarely used smartphone camera,” Castel wrote. Three New York City voters filed suit last week against the state and city boards of election, claiming the selfie ban restricts voters' First Amendment rights. However, Castel opined the widespread availability and easy of smartphone technology could, in fact, increase the risk of a form of voter intimidation. “Without the statute, employers, unions, and religious groups could encourage their members to upload images of their marked ballots to a single location to prove their commitment to the designated candidate,” Castel wrote. State law does not ban all photography inside the voting booth or polling locations. Voters can take selfies with a blank ballot or inside the booth without the ballot visible. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.

Two Dutchess County farms won grants from the the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program, Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced Nov. 3. The program "to create new products and improve their marketing strategy to raise brand awareness and increase sales" doled out $2,279,655 to New York farms, included $49,000 for Organic Indoor Gardens Of Poughkeepsie, and $53,625 for Fishkill Farms. “Fishkill Farms is thrilled to have our Heritage Cidery project recognized by the USDA for its significance with the 2016 VAPG grant award. We're excited to embark on the research, planning, and product development that will lay the foundation for a world-class cidery and tasting room on the farm, producing a distinctive craft cider with our own organic and sustainably-grown fruit,” said Josh Morgenthau, Owner of Fishkill Farms.

William J. Kemble reports in The Daily Freeman that Saugerties voters consider whether the highway superintendent’s term should be lengthened from two years to four starting in 2017 in the Nov. 8 election. “The surrounding towns that I work hand and hand with each day — the town of Woodstock and the town of Ulster — have four-year terms in place already,” said Saugerties Highway Superintendent Doug Myer. “I also work with the village of Saugerties continuously. When we’re talking about different programs that we’re trying to implement together, I can only commit as long as I’m going to be in office, and that’s only two years.” Read the full story in The Daily Freeman.

Matthew Hamilton reports in The Albany Times-Union a group of Democrats are asking the State Senate's Republican majority to release documents turned over by the alleged polluters in Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh. In the past year the water in those Rensselaer County towns was determined to be poisoned by perfluorooctanoic acid, with much finger-pointing on the cause and the delay in notifying residents. Republicans say they are in the process of reviewing thousands of documents from Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, Taconic Plastics, and Honeywell International, and won't say what they will do with the documents next. State Sen. Brad Hoylman told Politico, "it is bewildering and frustrating to me as the ranking Democrat that we're not holding the polluters' feet to the fire, that we're not following through on the subpoena, that we're not questioning the executives under oath." Read the full story in The Albany Times-Union.

Jon Campbell reports in the Democrat and Chronicle that the 514 new highway signs touting New York tourism programs violate a federal ruling prohibiting signs of that sort. The Federal Highway Administration has repeatedly notified Cuomo's administration that the signs violate federal and state law but the state Department of Transportation and Thruway Authority ignored those warnings and installed the signs, including one at Exit 21 in Catskill on the I-87 Thruway. "Some of the signs have non-conforming symbols, while others violate sign lettering and other standards," highway administration spokesman Neil Gaffney said in a statement. The state DOT says the signs follow "standard specifications" and are in "full compliance with federal law." Each of the signs in question include a mention of ILoveNY.com and the state's I Love NY mobile app, promotion for the state rather then about a safety issue. Read the full story in the Democrat and Chronicle.

Local weather forecast:

Today: Partly sunny. High near 57. Friday night, mostly clear. Low around 31.

FORECAST FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS
SATURDAY: Mostly sunny. High near 56. Saturday night, mostly cloudy. Low around 40.
SUNDAY: Mostly sunny. High near 52. Sunday night, mostly clear. Low around 30.

Sunrise today: 7:33 a.m.
Sunset today: 5:44 p.m.
LENGTH OF THE DAY: 10:10 hrs.


PUBLIC MEETINGS

a href="https://wavefarm.org/wgxc/calendar">PUBLIC MEETINGS

Today is the first Friday of the month.
WGXC is unaware of any recurring public meetings scheduled for today.

DOWNLOAD or play the audio version of the local news update for Thursday Nov. 3 (3:39). (Produced by Alanna Medlock.)